#Cardiac coherence how to#
#Cardiac coherence skin#

We set up a process where the ECG spectra could be viewed in real-time. Surprisingly, these spectra appeared to reflect one’s emotional state and became our first form of heart-related biofeedback. One of the many things we looked at was the frequency spectrum of the electrocardiogram (ECG) over different time intervals (McCraty et al., 1993).

#Cardiac coherence skin#

We sought to determine which physiological variables were most sensitive to and correlated with changes in emotional states by analyzing many different physiological measures such as heart rate, electroencephalogram (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) activity, respiration, skin conductance, etc. Our first experiments were focused on the physiological correlates of positive emotions such as appreciation and compassion, as well negative emotions such as frustration, or anger. At that time there were very few published studies on positive emotions. The first intervention-focused study we conducted was with a population of 38 individuals with acquired immune deficiency virus (AIDS) in January of 1993 (Rozman et al., 1996). Mike Atkinson and I started our applied research laboratory where we first established cell culture, electrophysiology and Holter recording and analysis labs. The HeartMath Institute received its official IRS non-profit status in 1991 and shortly thereafter, the initial training courses we had been developing were offered publicly and the first books were published (Childre, 1992a, 1992b Childre, 1992a, 1992b). These experiences and intuitive promptings from my heart led me to sell my ownership in the company and accept an invitation to help Doc and others found a new non-profit research and educational organization to explore how the qualities associated with the heart could be related to improved healthy function, social harmony and helping people more effectively navigate an increasingly stressful and polarized world. Over the next few months I was surprised and delighted with the positive effects it had on my self-awareness, meditations, personal and business decisions and relationships and my ability to regulate my thoughts and emotions. I decided to sincerely try the heart-focused practices to access the heart’s intuitive guidance Doc had suggested. Although I was aware of the many references to the heart as a source of intuitive inner guidance, wisdom, and unconditional love, I considered them to be metaphors and never really took this seriously. It was during this period that I met Doc Childre, who, through his studies and experiences, came to the conclusion that the energetic heart really is the bridge to one’s higher awareness capacities. I then co-founded a highly successful company in the field of electrostatics and although I continued to meditate and could achieve some quite expanded inner states, I would often find myself stressed and quick to get triggered, feeling frustrated, impatient and judgmental of others in my day-to-day life.

This was my first exposure to biofeedback, various types of mindfulness and meditation practices, and methods of measuring one’s autonomic nervous system responses as a feedback signal, etc. This curiosity led me to start exploring other perspectives, which eventually led me to leave Motorola and move to California where I ended up getting a master’s degree in consciousness studies.

#Cardiac coherence how to#

Prior to this, I was a communication systems engineer at Motorola and found that I was never satisfied with the explanations I had been taught about the deeper nature of electromagnetism, even though much was understood in terms of how to use these seemingly mysterious electromagnetic “fields” to carry information over great distances. The path that led my colleagues and me to heart rate variability (HRV) research and the subsequent development of HRV biofeedback technologies started in 1987 when I first met Doc Childre, who a little later, founded the HeartMath Institute.